Paul Ryanhttp://www.businessinsider.com/category/paul-ryan
en-usFri, 09 Dec 2016 11:45:01 -0500Fri, 09 Dec 2016 11:45:01 -0500The latest news on Paul Ryan from Business Insiderhttp://static3.businessinsider.com/assets/images/bilogo-250x36-wide-rev.pngBusiness Insiderhttp://www.businessinsider.com
http://www.businessinsider.com/time-paul-ryan-story-2016-12Time updates misleading 2014 story after it resurfaced as attack on Paul Ryanhttp://www.businessinsider.com/time-paul-ryan-story-2016-12
Wed, 07 Dec 2016 10:56:51 -0500Oliver Darcy
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/58482c78ba6eb603688b6e75-883/undefined" alt="GettyImages 106693375" data-mce-source="Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for TIME Inc." data-mce-caption="A general view of atmosphere before the TIME's 2010 Person of the Year Panel at Time &amp; Life Building on November 10, 2010 in New York, New York."></p><p></p>
<p>A misleading <a href="http://time.com/14887/paul-ryan-cpac-2014/" target="_blank">story published by Time magazine</a> in 2014 was updated on Wednesday morning after it had <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/paul-ryan-time-story-free-lunch-2016-12" target="_blank">resurfaced the day before and was circulated</a> to attack House Speaker Paul Ryan.</p>
<p>The headline was changed from “Paul Ryan Says Free School Lunches Give Kids ‘An Empty Soul’” to “Paul Ryan Criticizes Liberal Government Programs at CPAC.” The opening paragraph of the story was also changed, and Ryan’s full remarks were added to provide context.</p>
<p>“The story has been updated to add a fuller quote and context to Ryan’s remarks at the 2014 Conservative Political Action Conference,” an editor’s note said.</p>
<p>A spokesperson for Time did not immediately reply when asked if the publication regretted the error.</p>
<p>Before the edits were made, the 2014 story stripped context from a quote Ryan delivered while speaking two years ago at the Conservative Political Action Conference.</p>
<p>It was not clear why the story resurfaced on Tuesday. Social-media users employed the story as a vehicle to characterize Ryan as a "monster" who had no sympathy for the less fortunate.</p>
<p>The story was circulated as many in the media have focused on the prevalence of "fake news" and how it could have swayed some individuals to vote for President-elect Donald Trump.</p>
<p>Some conservatives have countered that narrative by arguing much of the news reported by the "mainstream media" during the campaign was inaccurate or, as they characterize it, "fake."</p>
<p>Becket Adams, a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner, wrote on Twitter that taking Ryan out of context and recirculating a "badly botched" story only gave ammunition to conservatives already skeptical of traditional media outlets.</p>
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If you want to stop fake news from influencing voters who've stopped relying on media brand names, work to restore trust. Think first. </p>— T. Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/806172202655694848">December 6, 2016</a>
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<p>"Dear media: If you want to combat the rise of fake news, the surest and most effective way to do this would be to reestablish your own credibility," Adams added <a href="http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/dear-media-fake-news-is-taking-hold-because-you-keep-doing-stuff-like-this/article/2609023#.WEdddy1LhJ0.twitter" target="_blank">in a column</a>.</p>
<p>This was not the first time the years-old Time story had resurfaced. In April 2015, a Time politics editor <a href="https://twitter.com/ryanbeckwith/status/593076627640221696" target="_blank">noted</a> that it had also made the rounds on social media well after its initial publishing.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/paul-ryan-time-story-free-lunch-2016-12" >Wildly misleading 2014 Time story resurfaces as people try to prove Paul Ryan doesn’t care about poor people</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/time-paul-ryan-story-2016-12#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-boeing-747-front-hump-2016-11">Here's why Boeing 747s have a giant hump in the front</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/paul-ryan-time-story-free-lunch-2016-12Wildly misleading 2014 Time story resurfaces as people try to prove Paul Ryan doesn’t care about poor peoplehttp://www.businessinsider.com/paul-ryan-time-story-free-lunch-2016-12
Tue, 06 Dec 2016 21:01:03 -0500Oliver Darcy
<p>An extraordinarily misleading story <a href="http://time.com/14887/paul-ryan-free-school-lunch-empty-soul/?xid=tcoshare" target="_blank">published by Time in 2014</a> resurfaced Tuesday and was used by many to slam House Speaker Paul Ryan.</p>
<p>The story stripped context from a quote Ryan delivered while speaking two years ago at the Conservative Political Action Conference.</p>
<h3>Here’s Ryan’s quote in full context:</h3>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">"But I don’t think the problem is too many people are working — I think the problem is not enough people can find work. And if people leave the workforce, our economy will shrink—there will be less opportunity, not more. So the Left is making a big mistake here. What they’re offering people is a full stomach—and an empty soul. The American people want more than that.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">"This reminds me of a story I heard from Eloise Anderson. She serves in the cabinet of my friend Governor Scott Walker. She once met a young boy from a poor family. And every day at school, he would get a free lunch from a government program. But he told Eloise he didn't want a free lunch. He wanted his own lunch—one in a brown-paper bag just like the other kids'. He wanted one, he said, because he knew a kid with a brown-paper bag had someone who cared for him."</p>
<p>Time used that quote to headline a story: “Paul Ryan Says Free School Lunches Give Kids ‘An Empty Soul.’”</p>
<p>It was not clear why the story resurfaced on Tuesday, but it was widely circulated. Individuals used the story to characterize Ryan as a "monster" who had no sympathy for the less fortunate. </p>
<h3>Here's a sampling:</h3>
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Paul Ryan is the one with the empty soul. And no heart. Awful person. <a href="https://t.co/gAPmBXNYsM">https://t.co/gAPmBXNYsM</a> </p>— Austin Highsmith (@AustinHighsmith) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/806263479623503872">December 6, 2016</a>
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Starving people, literally, out of any opportunity to threaten their stronghold on wealth and resources in the future.<br><br>This is SICK. </p>— HRod17@IWonTho.com (@FeministaJones) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/806154783451123712">December 6, 2016</a>
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Let children starve;their souls will at least be nurtured. <a href="https://twitter.com/SpeakerRyan">@SpeakerRyan</a>: free lunches give poor kids an "empty soul" <a href="https://t.co/p1c5uUb0MK">https://t.co/p1c5uUb0MK</a> </p>— Shona Murray (@ShonaMurrayNT) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/806283843875602432">December 6, 2016</a>
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This makes me so, so angry. This man is morally bankrupt. <a href="https://t.co/qgDs1tC0Xa">https://t.co/qgDs1tC0Xa</a> </p>— Calvin (@calvinstowell) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/806160442246754304">December 6, 2016</a>
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This is disgusting. <a href="https://twitter.com/SpeakerRyan">@SpeakerRyan</a> Says Free School Lunches Give Kids ‘An Empty Soul’ <a href="https://t.co/p2RZeHBhHm">https://t.co/p2RZeHBhHm</a> </p>— Randi Weingarten (@rweingarten) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/806230074462703617">December 6, 2016</a>
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In case you forgot Paul Ryan is a monster <a href="https://t.co/uPSVbin52E">https://t.co/uPSVbin52E</a> <a href="https://t.co/6yCVMw1yUy">pic.twitter.com/6yCVMw1yUy</a> </p>— Zachary Davies Boren (@zdboren) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/806208121802813440">December 6, 2016</a>
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Paul Ryan said in 2014 that free school lunches give kids "a full stomach — and an empty soul" <a href="https://t.co/LKpcB9hgkC">https://t.co/LKpcB9hgkC</a> </p>— Liam Stack (@liamstack) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/806209066045415424">December 6, 2016</a>
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We should probably make sure Paul Ryan is never allowed to eat lunch again, in order to save his soul. 👼 </p>— Sara Nović (@NovicSara) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/806230742170816512">December 6, 2016</a>
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<p>The story was circulated as many in the media focus on the prevalence of "fake news" and how it could have swayed some individuals to vote for President-elect Donald Trump.</p>
<p>Some conservatives have countered that narrative by arguing much of the news reported by the so-called "mainstream media" during the campaign was inaccurate or, as they characterize it, "fake."</p>
<p>Becket Adams, a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner, wrote on Twitter that taking Ryan out of context and recirculating a "badly botched" story only gave ammo to conservatives already skeptical of traditional media outlets.</p>
<p><div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>
If you want to stop fake news from influencing voters who've stopped relying on media brand names, work to restore trust. Think first. </p>— T. Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/806172202655694848">December 6, 2016</a>
</blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></p>
<p><span>"Dear media: If you want to combat the rise of fake news, the surest and most effective way to do this would be to reestablish your own credibility," Adams added </span><a href="http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/dear-media-fake-news-is-taking-hold-because-you-keep-doing-stuff-like-this/article/2609023#.WEdddy1LhJ0.twitter" target="_blank">in a column</a><span>. </span></p>
<p>Ironically, the issue of poverty is one Ryan has worked to address, <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/mckaycoppins/paul-ryans-inner-city-education?utm_term=.kkVY203eN#.lf4WXa9ql" target="_blank">as documented</a> by BuzzFeed politics reporter McKay Coppins. Ryan has spent much "unchoreographed time with actual poor people" in a move "rather unprecedented for a Republican," Coppins wrote in a 2014 story.</p>
<p>This was not the first time the years-old Time story resurfaced. In April 2015, a Time politics editor <a href="https://twitter.com/ryanbeckwith/status/593076627640221696" target="_blank">noted</a> that it had also made the rounds on social media well after its initial publishing.</p>
<p>Moreover, in addition to taking Ryan out of context, the article failed to note<span> that the story about Anderson turned out to be </span><a href="http://www.mediaite.com/tv/paul-ryans-free-lunch-cpac-story-never-happened/" target="_blank">inaccurate</a><span> </span><span>and Ryan later apologized for using it to make his point in the 2014 speech.</span></p>
<p><span>A spokesperson for Time did not respond to multiple requests for comment.</span></p>
<p><em>Editor's note: Time <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/time-paul-ryan-story-2016-12" target="_blank">updated its story</a> on Wednesday. The publication changed its headline, lede, and provided more context for Ryan's remarks.</em></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-times-public-editor-reporters-trump-tweets-2016-12" >NY TIMES PUBLIC EDITOR: Some tweets from our politics reporters 'outrageous' and there 'ought to be some kind of consequence'</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/paul-ryan-time-story-free-lunch-2016-12#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/inside-donald-trump-victory-party-presidential-election-2016-11">What it was really like to be inside Trump's victory party</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/paul-ryan-trump-call-taiwan-2016-12PAUL RYAN: Reaction to Trump's call with Taiwanese president is 'much ado about nothing'http://www.businessinsider.com/paul-ryan-trump-call-taiwan-2016-12
Tue, 06 Dec 2016 10:51:22 -0500Pamela Engel
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5846dba3ba6eb61c008b7b79-1956/ap16216045767370.jpg" alt="Paul Ryan" data-mce-source="AP" data-mce-caption="Paul Ryan." /></p><p>House Speaker Paul Ryan defended President-elect Donald <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-phone-call-to-taiwan-likely-to-infuriate-china-2016-12" target="_blank">Trump's call last week with</a> Taiwan's president, <a href="https://twitter.com/marykbruce/status/806157312259981312">saying</a> the negative reaction was "much ado about nothing."</p>
<p>Ryan said he spoke with the president of Taiwan himself recently.</p>
<p>"I spoke with the president of Taiwan when she was transiting planes in Miami two months ago," Ryan <a href="https://twitter.com/joshrogin/status/806157423220236289">told reporters</a> on Tuesday.</p>
<p>House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy also brushed aside the implications of Trump's call, <a href="https://twitter.com/marykbruce/status/805801160871440384">telling reporters</a> that one&nbsp;congratulatory call would not change US policy.</p>
<p>Trump's call with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen caused a firestorm late last week, and foreign-policy experts said it could strain US relations with China. Trump's call amounted to the first time a US president had directly spoken with Taiwan's leadership in more than 30 years.</p>
<p>The US suspended formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979 after establishing a "One China" position in an effort to establish diplomatic channels with Beijing.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bremmer-trump-china-2016-12" >BREMMER: 'Beijing will be absolutely incensed' over Trump's call to the Taiwanese president</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/paul-ryan-trump-call-taiwan-2016-12#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/highlights-trump-obamas-turbulent-relationship-isis-birth-certificate-2016-11">'He's the founder of ISIS': Watch Trump and Obama trade insults throughout the years</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/how-long-until-republicans-replace-obamacare-2016-12It could take 3 years for Republicans to replace Obamacarehttp://www.businessinsider.com/how-long-until-republicans-replace-obamacare-2016-12
Thu, 01 Dec 2016 20:22:00 -0500Eric Pianin
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/581dd91346e27a2d088b4ee4-2400" alt="Obamacare protest" data-mce-source="Thomson Reuters" data-mce-caption="A small group of demonstrators stand outside of the HIlton Hotel and Suites prior to former South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint, president of the The Heritage Foundation, speaking at a &amp;quotDefund Obamacare Tour&amp;quot rally in Indianapolis August 26, 2013." /></p><p></p>
<p>As President-elect Donald Trump and congressional Republicans begin a perilous drive to overhaul the nation&rsquo;s health care system, the gravity of dismantling the Affordable Care Act and devising a politically acceptable replacement is beginning to sink in with GOP lawmakers and many of those who voted for Trump.</p>
<p>Trump blithely asserted recently on CBS&rsquo;s <em>60 Minutes </em>that he and his allies on Capitol Hill will be able to simultaneously repeal and replace Obamacare early next year without wreaking havoc on the 20 million or more Americans who currently get their health care insurance through the program.</p>
<p>However, senior House and Senate Republicans said this week that it could take as long as two to three years to hammer out a bipartisan replacement plan that could muster the necessary majorities in the House and Senate.</p>
<p>Prominent GOP lawmakers including House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas and Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, the chair of the Senate Health, Education and Labor Committee, told reporters that reaching consensus on a replacement plan without stripping millions of Americans of the security of health care insurance will take a number of years to achieve.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re talking about a three-year transition now that we actually have a president who is likely to sign the repeal into law,&rdquo; Cornyn told reporters Wednesday, according to <em>Politico.</em> &ldquo;People are being, understandably cautious, to make sure nobody&rsquo;s dropped through the cracks.&rdquo;</p>
<p>McCarthy told reporters on Tuesday that once Obamacare is repealed and the consequences begin to sink in, that &ldquo;you will have hopefully fewer people playing politics&rdquo; and more policymakers in both parties willing to come together to write replacement legislation. He added that when there is a &ldquo;date certain&rdquo; that Obamacare will disappear, &ldquo;you know you have to have something done.&rdquo;</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/55f22c15bd86ef1d008b984f-984/09122013defundobamacareprotest.jpg" alt="Obamacare Protest" data-mce-source="The Fiscal Times" /></p>
<p>Joseph Antos, a health care expert with the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute, said on Thursday that Republican leaders may be kidding themselves if they think they can get by with an open-ended deadline or replacing the Affordable Care Act.</p>
<p>&ldquo;In the end, a two or three-year timeline is the same as saying nothing will ever happen,&rdquo; he said in an interview. &ldquo;In my view, they have a year. If they don&rsquo;t pass a replace plan by let&rsquo;s say December of 2017, then I think the reasonable view of Democrats in the Senate will be, well, they couldn&rsquo;t get their act together, so why should we think we should help them?&rdquo;</p>
<p>But if the Republicans could manage to both repeal and replace Obamacare within a year or so, he added, &ldquo;That&rsquo;s serious. It shows they really are going to do something. It matters.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Repealing Obamacare will be the easy part for Republicans who are tentatively targeting mid-January for action, right around the time that Trump takes the oath of office as president. &nbsp;The Republicans already had a dress rehearsal for such action last January, when the GOP-controlled House and Senate used arcane &ldquo;reconciliation&rdquo; budget rules to ram repeal legislation through Congress and send it to the president&rsquo;s desk. President Obama vetoed the legislation, but Trump is certain to sign a similar bill when it reaches his desk in the Oval Office.</p>
<p>The Republicans won&rsquo;t need a single Democratic vote to accomplish their reprise of the Obamacare repeal legislation, which provided for a two-year wait before implementation. &nbsp;But crafting a replacement for the Affordable Care Act is a much different challenge&nbsp;and one that will require the acquiescence of some Democrats in order to achieve a needed 60-vote &ldquo;super majority&rdquo; to pass major legislation in the Senate.</p>
<p>The Republicans are far from agreeing among themselves on the details of new Trumpcare legislation to succeed Obamacare. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) has outlined an alternative in his &ldquo;Better Way&rdquo; proposals and House Budget Committee Chair Tom Price (R-GA), who has been chosen by Trump to become Secretary of Health and Human Services, has prepared a very detailed free-market style plan.</p>
<p>Trump has said that he is inclined to keep the &ldquo;good parts&rdquo; of Obamacare, including provisions that allow parents to keep their children on their health care policies until they turn 26 and a ban on insurance companies denying coverage to consumers with pre-existing chronic health problems. But beyond that, the Republicans&rsquo; approach to replacing Obamacare is very much a work in progress.</p>
<p>Although a new Kaiser Family Foundation <a href="http://kff.org/health-reform/poll-finding/kaiser-health-tracking-poll-november-2016/">tracking survey</a> shows that the public is still divided over Obamacare, many of the ACA&rsquo;s major provisions continue to be quite popular with people, even across party lines.</p>
<p>Moreover, while half of those who voted for Trump favor repealing the law, the public more generally is more divided over the issue.&nbsp; Just a quarter of the voters surveyed since the election favor repealing the entire law, while 17 percent would scale it back, 30 percent would expand it and 19 percent would leave it as it is.</p>
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/584091c3ba6eb61c008b71cf-620/screen shot 2016-12-01 at 40925 pm.png" alt="public's view of obamacare" data-mce-source="The Fiscal Times via Kaiser Family Foundation Health Tracking Polls" data-link="http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2016/12/01/3-Years-Replace-Obamacare-Republicans-Are-Wading-Quagmire" /></p>
<p>It took Obama, the Democrats and special interest groups nearly two years to forge a compromise on the current health insurance program before it was passed and signed into law in March 2010.&nbsp; Because of the size of their majorities in the Senate and House in 2010, the Democrats were able to pass Obamacare without a single Republican vote. However, the Republicans won&rsquo;t have that luxury and will likely need at least eight or nine Democrats to join with them.</p>
<p>Republicans have spent so many years bashing Obama and his Democratic allies for the many shortcomings in the Affordable Care Act &ndash; especially numerous technical problems with its online insurance exchanges, soaring premiums and out-of-pocket costs, and the collapse of nearly two dozen non-profit cooperatives &ndash; that Democrats are likely to relish the GOP&rsquo;s challenges and headaches in finally offering a serious alternative of their own.</p>
<p>Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Price and other GOP leaders will be challenged to assemble a coalition including the insurance industry, hospitals and doctors, the pharmaceutical industry, consumer advocates and others who will be needed to assure passage of new legislation. &ldquo;We know that to correct [Obamacare] is going to take some time, it&rsquo;s just that simple,&rdquo; Senate Finance Committee Chair Orrin Hatch (R-UT), told <em>The Washington Post</em>.</p>
<p>However, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and other Democrats appear to be enjoying the Republicans&rsquo; discomfort as they inherit responsibility for Obamacare and other major health care programs including Medicare and Medicaid. Already there have been reports that UnitedHealthcare, Aetna, Blue Cross-Blue Shield and other major insurers are likely to accelerate their withdrawal from the Obamacare program over the next year or two as uncertainty grows over the program&rsquo;s fate.</p>
<p>As the Republicans begin to wade into the political quagmire of health care, Schumer likened it to &ldquo;the dog that caught the bus.&rdquo; Now that they essentially own health care policy, Republicans may face voter resentment and backlash in the 2018 mid-term elections.</p>
<p>&ldquo;They&rsquo;re stuck and that&rsquo;s why they don&rsquo;t have a solution,&rdquo; he told reporters.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-obamacare-gop-2016-11" >Obama explains why it’s going to be harder for Republicans to repeal Obamacare than they think</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-long-until-republicans-replace-obamacare-2016-12#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-boeing-747-front-hump-2016-11">Here's why Boeing 747s have a giant hump in the front</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/why-democrats-are-sticking-with-nancy-pelosi-despite-their-election-loss-2016-12Why Democrats are sticking with Nancy Pelosi despite their election losshttp://www.businessinsider.com/why-democrats-are-sticking-with-nancy-pelosi-despite-their-election-loss-2016-12
Thu, 01 Dec 2016 19:21:00 -0500Eric Pianin
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/57cf2b5e09d29324008b649a-2400" alt="Nancy Pelosi" data-mce-source="Win McNamee/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="Nancy Pelosi." /></p><p></p>
<p>Dozens of House Democrats despondent over the shellacking their party took in the Nov. 8 elections were more than ready to dump their veteran leader, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, and take a chance on a new direction.&nbsp;</p>
<p>But Pelosi, the 76-year-old former House Speaker who was first elected to Congress in 1987, prevailed again when the time came on Wednesday morning to choose a minority leader, garnering 134 votes or 68 percent of the Democratic caucus.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Pelosi clearly lost ground from the last time she received a serious challenge, six years ago. Sixty-three Democrats cast their votes for Rep. Tim Ryan, a backbencher from Youngstown, Ohio. And Pelosi had to scramble to placate younger members with leadership rules changes that likely will pave the way for newer faces in the coming years.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Ryan, 43, and his supporters argued that despite Pelosi&rsquo;s years of experience and prowess as a fundraiser and legislative strategist, the Democratic leadership was long overdue for a change.</p>
<p>Clinton and the Democrats had been caught flatfooted during the campaign by focusing too much on Trump&rsquo;s glaring character flaws while failing to develop a compelling economic message to galvanized dispirited middle class and blue-collar workers.</p>
<p>His championing of the depressed Rust Belt economy and sharp criticism of free trade agreements seemed to better reflect the political zeitgeist since President-elect Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Yet the beleaguered House Democrats weren&rsquo;t willing to take a flyer on Ryan &mdash; a likable politician with virtually no leadership experience &mdash; when their party was in crisis and so much of the Democratic legacy was on the line. For the first time in eight years, the Republicans will hold a firm grip on the White House and both chambers of Congress beginning in January.</p>
<p>They are vowing to dismantle or dramatically alter Obamacare and social programs dating back to the Great Society of the mid-1960s. And they cheered Pelosi&rsquo;s win. &ldquo;This year voters went to the polls and made a bold statement for change in Washington but House Democrats just doubled down on the status quo,&rdquo; the Republican National Committee said in a statement.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The fact that Tim Ryan was able to peel off over 60 Democrats in his campaign for Minority Leader reveals Democrats have no unified vision for our country and are content to once again entrust leadership to someone who has led their party into total irrelevance in the House.&rdquo;</p>
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/576326d752bcd01a008c9ae3-2400/ap16166689562592.jpg" alt="Chuck Schumer" data-mce-source="AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite" data-mce-caption="Chuck Schumer." /></p>
<p>Pelosi&rsquo;s leadership may be more important than ever for Democrats now.</p>
<p>Without Obama in office to block Republican salvos, as he did last January in vetoing an earlier attempt to repeal Obamacare, the Democrats&rsquo; last line of defense will be the shrewdness and boldness of their party leaders in trying to at least slow the GOP momentum.</p>
<p>That means that much will ride on the performances of Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, who just succeeded Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada as Democratic minority leader, and on Pelosi.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The San Francisco Democrat is peerless as a combatant for liberal causes and has shown an iron will during countless battles over the years over spending, health issues, abortion rights, foreign policy, defense, taxes and even the debt ceiling.&nbsp; She was instrumental in passing Obama&rsquo;s 2009 stimulus package. And when things looked bleakest for the 2010 Affordable Care Act, Pelosi assured a despondent Obama, &ldquo;We can make this work.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
<p>Now Pelosi and Schumer have little choice but to play an aggressive defense. Lacking the numbers in the House or Senate to prevail on most key disputes, the two will have to be careful in picking their battles and knowing when to retreat or cut a deal.</p>
<p>Pelosi and Schumer already have signaled a willingness to negotiate with Trump and the Republicans on a $1 trillion package of infrastructure construction. There also may be common ground on a paid family leave program and closing some glaring tax loopholes.&nbsp;</p>
<p>But Pelosi and Schumer have also signaled they are prepared for all-out warfare with Trump if he and the Republicans try to overhaul Medicare and Medicaid, or if the president-elect is serious about building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border or rounding up and deporting millions of illegal immigrants.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/582b327046e27a2e008b6ac7-1024" alt="Paul Ryan" data-mce-source="Zach Gibson/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) speaks during a meeting with President-elect Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol November 10, 2016 in Washington, DC. Earlier in the day president-elect Trump met with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House.)" /></p>
<p>That helped to explain why a slew of senior Democrats, including fellow Californian Adam Schiff and Joaquin Castro of Texas, put her name in nomination.</p>
<p>Schiff probably put it best in urging his colleagues to rally round Pelosi and her top lieutenants, Reps. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, who is 77 years old, and 76-year-old James Clyburn of South Carolina.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Everything we care about [is] at risk, Schiff said, according to Politico. &ldquo;We need the very best to lead us.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY), who is retiring at the end of the year, added that &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not just the politics, it&rsquo;s not just that she wins elections, it&rsquo;s not just the fundraising, but that she gets things done for our caucus and the American people.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;We are in a minority,&rdquo; Israel told MSNBC yesterday. &ldquo;And yet as a minority party, every time these Republicans try and send us off a fiscal cliff or shut down the government, she produces the votes necessary to move the country forward. And we are going to rely on her to do that now more than ever, because you&rsquo;ve got an administration, a speaker of the House and a secretary of Health and Human Services who are obsessed with privatizing Medicare.&rdquo;</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nancy-pelosi-house-leader-trump-2016-11" >Top Trump advisers cheer as Democrats keep Nancy Pelosi as House leader</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-democrats-are-sticking-with-nancy-pelosi-despite-their-election-loss-2016-12#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-spot-massive-hole-sun-coronal-hole-video-2016-12">NASA just spotted a massive hole growing on the sun — here’s what it means</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/gop-faces-tough-question-after-winning-the-white-house-and-senate-2016-11Republicans face a tough question after unexpectedly winning the White House and control of the Senatehttp://www.businessinsider.com/gop-faces-tough-question-after-winning-the-white-house-and-senate-2016-11
Fri, 25 Nov 2016 19:23:00 -0500Edward Morrissey
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5838b4a6ba6eb619268b6047-2400/undefined" alt="Paul Ryan" data-mce-source="Win McNamee/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="Paul Ryan." /></p><p>Republicans in Washington face a tough question after unexpectedly winning the presidency and controlling the Senate in the 2016 elections.</p>
<p>They have regained single-party governance for the first time in a decade, with GOP hands on all the electoral levers of federal government. Donald Trump will have an opportunity to nominate a successor to the late Antonin Scalia, restoring the nominally conservative balance to the Supreme Court.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The question is this: <em>What now?</em> One answer, ironically, comes from Nancy Pelosi.</p>
<p>Republicans in Congress have long hoped to reinvent Medicare to resolve trillions of dollars in unfunded mandates over the next few decades. Just within the next decade, <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/113th-congress-2013-2014/reports/45229-UpdatedBudgetProjections_OneColumn.pdf">the Congressional Budget Office projects</a> that Medicare spending will rise from $648 billion in 2015 to $1.28 trillion in 2025. Heritage Foundation senior fellow Dr. Robert Moffitt <a href="http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2016/07/medicares-next-50-years-preserving-the-program-for-future-retirees">warned in July</a> that &ldquo;outlays will generally outpace the growth in the general economy (as measured by GDP), aggregate national health expenditures, and private health insurance.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2016/11/22/Pelosi-Warns-Trump-and-Ryan-Are-Overplaying-Their-Hands-Medicare"></a>The only solutions on the current trajectory to bend the cost curve downward while maintaining the current single-payer framework of Medicare will be &ldquo;major tax increases, savage benefit cuts, or some undesirable combination of both.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
<p>If that sounds familiar, it should. Colorado voters <a href="http://www.denverpost.com/2016/11/08/coloradocare-amendment-69-election-results/">overwhelmingly rejected</a> a referendum that would have forced its residents into a single-payer health system called ColoradoCare. The measure failed spectacularly in large part because of <a href="http://coloradohealthinstitute.org/uploads/postfiles/Financial_Analysis_Report_FINAL.pdf">a non-partisan analysis</a> from Colorado Health Institute that predicted a sea of red ink. The program&rsquo;s budget would have quickly run annual deficits in the billions while doing nearly nothing to save health-care costs. The only way to close those gaps, CHI concluded, were either tax increases or benefit cuts and reducing payments to providers, who would then be incentivized to seek business elsewhere.&nbsp;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2016/08/11/Here-s-Proof-Single-Payer-Health-System-Could-Break-Bank">As I wrote at the time</a>, those are the inevitable end options in single-payer systems. Those operate on scarcity models, using rationing and taxation where healthy markets use price signaling, competition, and incentives for providers to join markets rather than drive them out. It&rsquo;s no coincidence that Congress has used the same options in futile attempts to tweak Medicare&rsquo;s single-payer structure&nbsp;and no surprise that they have not solved the underlying structural issues of an aging population and fewer workers from whom to transfer wealth.&nbsp;</p>
<p>House Speaker Paul Ryan has seen the writing on the wall&nbsp;and has proposed a restructuring of Medicare into a premium-support model to serve those who come into the system in the future. Democrats have attacked this as &ldquo;privatizing Medicare,&rdquo; and <a href="http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2016/11/22/Pelosi-Warns-Trump-and-Ryan-Are-Overplaying-Their-Hands-Medicare">Pelosi warned this week </a>&nbsp;that she will rally Democrats to defeat any attempt by Republicans to implement it. She warned Ryan what happened when George W. Bush tried reforming Social Security in 2005.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/582a50175124c9f035ab55b5-800" alt="House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks during a media briefing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., July 7, 2016. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo - RTX2SKHR" data-mce-source="Thomson Reuters" data-mce-caption="House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi speaks during a media briefing on Capitol Hill in Washington" /></p>
<p>&ldquo;Bush had just been elected,&rdquo; Pelosi told <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/11/21/democrats-will-hold-firm-against-paul-ryans-medicare-plan-pelosi-vows/?utm_term=.dc2c0d509698"><em>Washington Post</em> analyst Greg Sargent</a>. &ldquo;He gave us an opportunity by saying he would partially privatize Social Security. Everybody stuck together. The opportunity that we have now is the equivalent of the opportunity we had in &rsquo;05.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
<p>Ryan&rsquo;s likely to take that advice, although not because Pelosi offered it. A decade ago, conservatives had built a good public case for entitlement reform&nbsp;and had a president who wanted to accomplish it. In 2017, however, they will have a president who openly dismissed talk of restructuring entitlement programs, insisting that he can make it work by putting his superior business acumen to work on it. The populists who lifted Trump to the White House have little taste for revamping Medicare or Social Security.</p>
<p>In fact, national debt and budget deficits appear to have dropped off the GOP&rsquo;s radar screen, at least for the moment. Trump has promised a trillion-dollar stimulus to update national infrastructure, a key part of his &ldquo;Make America Great Again&rdquo; campaign pledge, and Democrats want to jump on board that part of his bandwagon. Trump&rsquo;s plan differs from outgoing President Barack Obama&rsquo;s 2009 stimulus bill in key ways, but so far it doesn&rsquo;t come with explicit spending cuts elsewhere to fund it.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Former Senator Alan Simpson, a Republican deficit hawk who has crusaded for budget and entitlement reform, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2016/11/23/daily-202-deficit-hawks-may-not-be-part-of-donald-trump-s-washington/5834ce21e9b69b7e58e45f1c/">sees both as lost causes</a> and fiscal conservatives as locked out of the process, at least for now. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think our phones will be ringing off the hook,&rdquo; Simpson told the Post&rsquo;s James Hohmann. &ldquo;Deficit or debt, fiscal or monetary, the real issue is the budget guys aren&rsquo;t dealing with two-thirds of the budget &ndash; the entitlements.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/582a45aa5124c955245d18cc-728" alt="U.S. President-elect Donald Trump (C) answers questions as his wife Melania Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) watch on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., November 10, 2016. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts " data-mce-source="Thomson Reuters" data-mce-caption="U.S. President-elect Donald Trump answers questions as his wife Melania and Senate Majority Leader McConnell watch on Capitol Hill in Washington" /></p>
<p>The Trump administration will spend its first months working on its campaign promises and other goals. If Trump does anything significant with Medicare, it&rsquo;s likely to be addressing the &ldquo;waste, fraud, and abuse&rdquo; that he and other politicians from both parties insist are the real problems in the entitlement system.</p>
<p>Perhaps by the midterms in 2018, Trump will have learned that those issues only nibble at the edges of the coming debt nightmare of Medicare, and will be willing to act more boldly. By that time, Republicans have a fair chance of achieving a nearly filibuster-proof majority in the Senate that could push Democrats into a sense of fiscal reality as debt continues to spiral out of control.</p>
<p>Until that reality dawns across the aisle &ndash; and down Pennsylvania Avenue &ndash; fiscal conservatives have little hope of progress on that front and will have to focus their efforts elsewhere. That&rsquo;s why single-party Republican governance will continue the current tradition of kicking the Medicare can down the road, at least a little further, while unfunded liabilities continue to accrue.&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/gop-faces-tough-question-after-winning-the-white-house-and-senate-2016-11#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/income-state-top-one-percent-salary-map-2016-11">Here's how much you need to make to be in the top 1% of every state</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-house-republicans-to-obama-take-no-more-action-on-iran-2016-11House Republicans to Obama: Take no more action on Iranhttp://www.businessinsider.com/ap-house-republicans-to-obama-take-no-more-action-on-iran-2016-11
Tue, 22 Nov 2016 14:32:00 -0500Josh Lederman
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/58349cacba6eb61c008b5dbb-2400" alt="obama" data-mce-source="Associated Press/Pablo Martinez Monsivais" data-mce-caption="U.S. President Barack Obama pauses while answers question during his news conference at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Lima, Peru, Sunday, Nov. 20, 2016." /></p><p>WASHINGTON (AP) &mdash; House Republican leaders are urging President Barack Obama to take no more action on Iran that could reinforce the nuclear deal before he leaves office.</p>
<p>House Speaker Paul Ryan, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce are issuing the request in a letter to Obama dated Tuesday.</p>
<p>The Republicans say they expect to pass a bill soon extending Iran sanctions. They say signing it should be Obama's only further step on Iran. The leaders say Obama shouldn't waive sanctions, grant new commerce licenses or issue new guidance to companies about doing business legally in Iran.</p>
<p>The leaders say President-elect Donald Trump deserves the chance to assess U.S. policy toward Iran without Obama making it more complicated.</p>
<p>The White House had no immediate response to the letter.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/obamas-latest-foreign-tour-has-been-about-one-thing-trump-2016-11" >Obama’s latest foreign tour has been about one thing — Trump</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-house-republicans-to-obama-take-no-more-action-on-iran-2016-11#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-boeing-747-front-hump-2016-11">Here's why Boeing 747s have a giant hump in the front</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/trumps-republicans-policy-differences-disagreements-2016-11Trump's honeymoon with Republicans could end as policy differences emergehttp://www.businessinsider.com/trumps-republicans-policy-differences-disagreements-2016-11
Fri, 18 Nov 2016 19:41:00 -0500Eric Pianin
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/582f8e4ce02ba78f1c8b53ab-764/trump-softens-promise-of-border-wall-says-parts-could-be-fence.jpg" alt="U.S. President-elect Donald Trump (L) meets with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., November 10, 2016. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts" data-mce-source="Thomson Reuters" data-mce-caption="U.S. President-elect Donald Trump meets with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan on Capitol Hill in Washington"></p><p></p>
<p>From the very beginning of his campaign for president, Donald Trump made it clear that he thought House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin was “weak and “feckless.” He even shot a silver bullet through Ryan’s heart when he<strong> </strong><a href="http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2016/01/05/Trump-Denounces-Paul-Ryan-and-His-Stupid-Budget-Deal">called Ryan’s budget deal “stupid.</a>”</p>
<p>Thus <a href="http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2016/05/06/Battle-Between-Donald-Trump-and-Paul-Ryan-Was-Inevitable">began the cold war</a> between the billionaire bully and the reluctant Speaker who had enough trouble on his hands trying to tame the feral Freedom Caucus within his own party. But the attacks continued: Ryan denounced Trump over his comments on the KKK last March and Trump’s “star” tweet; <a href="http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/latestnews/2016/10/12/Trump-intensifies-attacks-Ryan-four-weeks-left-until-Election-Day">Trump fired back four weeks ago</a>, accusing Ryan of making a “sinister deal.”</p>
<p>As Trump recovered from the “pussy grabbing” tape and his numbers started to rise again, Ryan went full throttle, backing Trump and campaigning for him in the last weeks before the election. As it turned out, Trump saved Ryan’s job.</p>
<p>Ryan was the House Republicans’ unanimous choice this week for House Speaker, and even the unruly Freedom Caucus of nearly 40 arch conservatives who have repeatedly clashed with the speaker on policy and strategy were on board. Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC), a founding member of the Freedom Caucus, told <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/paul-ryan-donald-trump-speaker-231457"><em>Politico</em>,</a> “If Trump had not won, then the base would have demanded a scalp, and it probably would have been Paul’s.”</p>
<p>Ryan is now ebullient, declaring that there is unprecedented unity between the Republican- controlled Congress and the Republican president-elect and that the sky’s the limit on what the GOP can accomplish after years of political dysfunction under President Obama.</p>
<p>“Welcome to the dawn of a new unified Republican government,” Ryan told reporters at a news conference earlier this week. “This will be a government focused on turning President-elect Trump’s victory into real progress for the American people.”</p>
<p>Ryan’s future was in doubt throughout the general election campaign as he earned the enmity of many of his conservative House colleagues for his on-again, off-again support of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Ryan’s tendency to promote his own policies for tax reform, health care, welfare reform and national security without fully consulting with rank and file members and other leaders also irked many. And any thought that Freedom Caucus members will merrily climb aboard the new Trump-GOP bandwagon and embrace the President-elect’s agenda wholeheartedly is ludicrous.</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5824fcab691e8877098b615c-2400/gettyimages-622166468.jpg" alt="Donald Trump" data-mce-source="Zach Gibson/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="Donald Trump."></p>
<p>"The Freedom Caucus is definitely going to be pushing against the House Republican leadership whenever possible and will find ways to keep relevant, especially over spending issues on big ticket items,” Ron Bonjean, a Washington policy expert and former congressional Republican spokesperson, said in an email today. “They aren’t going anywhere and will make their voices heard soon. One-party rules means you can get a lot done, but there are a lot of headaches for the leadership moving it forward as well.”</p>
<p>This, after all, is the same group that eagerly supported a government shutdown in 2013 and hamstrung former Republican House Speaker John Boehner on an array of budget and other policy issues before driving him into an early retirement. Most Freedom Caucus members reluctantly agreed to support Ryan to succeed Boehner, in October 2015, but not before intense negotiations over changes in the way the House conducts business.</p>
<p>Despite lingering doubts, Freedom Caucus members re-upped on Tuesday to support Ryan’s second term as speaker during a closed-door session, although Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert admitted to reporters afterward that “I’ve got mixed emotions” because of Ryan’s “soft” stand on border security and his repeated insults of Trump.</p>
<p>Conservative displeasure with both Ryan and Trump came spewing out of a “Conversations with Conservatives” press conference on Wednesday. In a wide-ranging question and answer session with reporters, a handful of Freedom Caucus members voiced strong differences with Ryan and Trump on how to proceed.</p>
<p><div>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/NCwLKlVSILQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></p>
<p>As Dana Milbank of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2016/11/16/852d95b6-ac49-11e6-977a-1030f822fc35_story.html?utm_term=.92a97d7074ba"><em>The Washington Post</em> reported</a>, the far right conservatives groused about many of the issues that will confront the new president and the Republican-controlled Congress. For instance:</p>
<ul>
<li>They support a significant increase in spending on highways, bridges and other infrastructure to stimulate the economy, as Trump has proposed. However, they are incensed that the proposed spending of as much as $1 trillion over the coming decade is not offset by corresponding cuts in other government programs. Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID) warned that unless Trump came up with a way to legitimately pay for the new infrastructure, “then a majority if not all of us will vote against it.”<br><br>
</li>
<li>They are far from unanimous on whether to repeal Obamacare as early as January and then consider possible replacements for the federal health insurance program, or whether to preserve portions of the 2010 law. One of the lawmakers lamented that the GOP never got around to agreeing on a compromise replacement plan to have ready to go after repealing President Obama’s signature health insurance program. <br>Pressed by a reporter to explain how the Republicans would avoid a situation in which 20 million or more Americans would lose their coverage because of GOP action, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) quipped that people would be “way better off” if nothing were passed to replace Obamacare.<br><br>
</li>
<li>They warned Trump and Ryan that they would balk if Congress attempted to increase fiscal 2017 spending during the lame-duck session of Congress before Trump takes office in mid-January. Jordan said that when it comes to budget cutting, “everything has to be on the table,” although Trump is on record opposing cuts in Social Security and Medicare.<br><br>
</li>
<li>Some staunchly opposed efforts by some of Ryan’s GOP allies to protect him from procedural vehicles for removing him as speaker if the caucus began to sour on him. One of Ryan’s conditions for accepting the speakership in the first place was eliminating parliamentary provisions that would leave him vulnerable to a rebellion and ouster. Ryan and Freedom Caucus members intensely negotiated the issue but never reached an agreement.</li>
</ul>
<p><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/57fc16214046dd8b008b4db7-2400/gettyimages-506077974.jpg" alt="john mccain kelly ayote lindsey graham senate republicans" data-mce-source="Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="-R) Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain (R-AZ), Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) (R) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) hold a news conference to talk about imposing more sanctions against Iran at the U.S. Capitol January 21, 2016 in Washington, DC. With Ayotte in the lead, the Republican senators said they would work to introduce legislation that would impose new economic sanctions against Iran." data-link="http://www.gettyimages.com/license/506077974"></p>
<p>There were other sharp inter-party divisions on display at the press conference, including whether Republicans should risk civil war with the Democrats by trying to abolish the filibuster on Supreme Court nominations in the Senate, or whether to resurrect “earmarks” in the appropriations process to give individual lawmakers the opportunity once again to steer pork-barrel spending to their congressional districts or states.</p>
<p>These and other issues will become grist for spirited debates in the coming months and could divide the GOP and trigger renewed gridlock.</p>
<p>When the dust settled from last week’s election, the Republicans held a solid 247 to 188 seat majority over the Democrats in the House, suggesting that Ryan and the GOP leadership could pretty much pass new legislation at will.</p>
<p>Yet the Republicans’ new 59-seat edge is more fragile than it may seem, because of glaring rifts among three factions: Ryan’s more mainstream, center-right wing of the party that is bent on major changes in the tax code and entitlements; the more populist Trump faction that favors infrastructure spending and dismantling of international trade agreements; and the Freedom Caucus, comprised of conservative ideologues, fiscal conservatives and political bomb-throwers.</p>
<p>The 40 or so loyal members of the Freedom Caucus have the power to stop almost any GOP-promoted proposal in its tracks, according to political experts.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trumps-republicans-policy-differences-disagreements-2016-11#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/preauricular-sinus-small-hole-above-ear-2016-11">Here's why some people have a tiny hole above their ears</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/earmarks-could-eliminate-gridlock-in-congress-2016-11Earmarks could eliminate gridlock in Congress — but Republicans don’t want themhttp://www.businessinsider.com/earmarks-could-eliminate-gridlock-in-congress-2016-11
Thu, 17 Nov 2016 20:03:00 -0500Rob Garver
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/58059737c524021c008b4ff5-2400/ap_925527478106.jpg" alt="Paul Ryan" data-mce-source="AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite" data-mce-caption="Paul Ryan." /></p><p></p>
<p>Arguing that the week after the nation elected a new president who promised to &ldquo;drain the swamp&rdquo; in Washington wasn&rsquo;t a good time to bring back pork-barrel spending, House Speaker Paul Ryan successfully delayed -- and probably killed -- an effort to bring a limited form of directed spending back into the appropriations process.</p>
<p>Known as &ldquo;earmarks,&rdquo; directed spending was banned in 2010&nbsp;after Republicans took over the House of Representatives.</p>
<p>The practice allowed individual lawmakers to add provisions to spending bills specifically directing money to projects in their home states and districts.</p>
<p>While many lawmakers, then and now, defended the practice as a means of allowing the federal officials most in touch with the needs of a local population to help address them, earmarks were often criticized as wasteful and corrupt, with lawmakers using them to reward donors and allies.</p>
<p>Many lawmakers have also pointed out that the ability to punish and reward lawmakers by withholding and granting earmarks was a powerful tool for Congressional leaders, and that its loss has contributed to the dysfunction on Capitol Hill.</p>
<p>On Wednesday, the House was expected to vote on a package of rules that included an amendment sponsored by three Republican members: John Culberson of Texas, Mike Rogers of Alabama and Tom Rooney of Florida. It would have allowed members of Congress to direct funding through a limited set of federal agencies, including the Defense Department, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Homeland Security. State and local governments could also receive directed funds. However, it would bar the use of public funds for recreation facilities, parks and other projects.</p>
<p>The proposal was bitterly opposed by conservative groups, with Heritage Action for America taking the lead. Calling earmarks &ldquo;the lubricant that empowers politicians to cut bad deals,&rdquo; Heritage Action CEO Michael Needham said, &ldquo;Americans deserve an honest, transparent government that is working for everyone, not simply doling out favors to a well-connected few.&rdquo;</p>
<p>However, because the vote Wednesday was to have been conducted by secret ballot, members would have enjoyed considerable insulation from the anger of groups like Needham&rsquo;s.</p>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/547c75486da811da6214ab26-2400/ap900407422739.jpg" alt="AP900407422739" data-mce-source="AP/Susan Walsh" data-mce-caption="The U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree arrives at the West Front of the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Nov. 21, 2014. The 88-foot white spruce from the Chippewa National Forest, was cut in northern Minnesota on Oct. 29." /></p>
<p>However, according to reports Wednesday evening, Ryan convinced his members that the choosing the week after the election in which voters handed all executive and legislative power in the federal government to the GOP to reinstate a controversial practice associated with corruption was not a wise choice.</p>
<p>Instead, Republicans agreed to address the question through the Committee process, meaning that the earmarks ban will be debated, and if there is still a proposal to lift it, it will receive a vote on the House floor sometime in early 2017. The change from a secret ballot to a floor vote greatly complicates the effort to remove the ban, because groups like Heritage, which keep running scores of how lawmakers vote on what they consider to be their key issues, will inevitably highlight it.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The speaker was very clear: This process was abused for a very long period of time,&rdquo; said Majority Whip Steve Scalise. &ldquo;We need to reform the entire way that unelected bureaucrats control taxpayer dollars.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Even if the earmark ban were to be lifted in the House, it&rsquo;s far from clear that the Senate would cooperate. Also on Wednesday, the Senate GOP&rsquo;s second-ranking figure, Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas, said, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think a change in the Senate&rsquo;s conference rules is in the offing, so I expect the ban to continue.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/earmarks-could-eliminate-gridlock-in-congress-2016-11#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-cook-scrambled-eggs-anthony-bourdain-2016-11">The best way to cook scrambled eggs — according to Anthony Bourdain</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/gop-is-eyeing-medicare-overhaul-in-2017-2016-11GOP is eyeing Medicare overhaul in 2017http://www.businessinsider.com/gop-is-eyeing-medicare-overhaul-in-2017-2016-11
Thu, 17 Nov 2016 19:00:46 -0500Lauren Fox
<div>
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/582e4123e02ba71c008b5157-2400/ap_16321766500944.jpg" alt="Tom Price" data-mce-source="Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo" data-mce-caption="Tom Price" />Rep. Tom Price (R-GA), the chairman of the budget committee, told reporters on Thursday that Republicans are eyeing major changes to Medicare in 2017.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p>Price, who is being floated as a possible Health and Human Services Secretary in the next administration, said that he expects Republican in the House to move on Medicare reforms "six to eight months" into the Trump administration.</p>
<p>Privatization of Medicare has been a central feature of Speaker of the House Paul Ryan's budget proposal for years, and the House GOP has voted in favor of it multiple times. Ryan himself said last week that Medicare would be on the table in the new Congress, signaling it could be taken up early in the new year. Price's comments suggest privatization won't be part of the first round of legislative initiatives rolled out by the Trump administration and GOP-controlled Congress.</p>
<p>Price also noted that Republicans are eyeing using a tactic known as budget reconciliation to make the change. That process allows Republicans to pass bills with a simple majority in the U.S. Senate.</p>
<p>When asked by TPM about timing for changes to Medicare, Price said "I think that is probably in the second phase of reconciliation, which would have to be in the FY 18 budget resolution in the first 6-8 months."</p>
<p>Republicans plan to tackle the Affordable Care Act in the first budget reconciliation process, which could take place as early as January. Tackling Medicare reform and Obamacare repeal at the same time could prove too high a risk for Republicans who have yet to reveal a clear plan to replace Obamacare with.</p>
<p>During his weekly press conference House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) remained vague about the timing for such reforms, saying only that those discussions are still underway.</p>
</div><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/gop-is-eyeing-medicare-overhaul-in-2017-2016-11#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/income-state-top-one-percent-salary-map-2016-11">Here's how much you need to make to be in the top 1% of every state</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/mike-pence-selfie-2016-11Twitter mocks selfie of Mike Pence and Republican members of Congresshttp://www.businessinsider.com/mike-pence-selfie-2016-11
Thu, 17 Nov 2016 16:02:03 -0500Mark Abadi
<p>A selfie taken by Mike Pence was mercilessly mocked online on Thursday for its apparent lack of diversity.</p>
<p>The picture, tweeted by Washington Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, showed the vice president-elect surrounded by more than 100 Republican representatives.</p>
<p><div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>
Great having <a href="https://twitter.com/mike_pence">@mike_pence</a> visit today! I’m excited to work with him and <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump">@realDonaldTrump</a> to shake up the status quo in Washington, D.C. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MAGA?src=hash">#MAGA</a> <a href="https://t.co/2xQIGs2a9Z">pic.twitter.com/2xQIGs2a9Z</a> </p>— CathyMcMorrisRodgers (@cathymcmorris) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/799268115045416960">November 17, 2016</a>
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<p>But social media users quickly jumped on one conspicuous detail about the picture — virtually everyone in it is white.</p>
<p><div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>
<a href="https://twitter.com/cathymcmorris">@cathymcmorris</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/RepGrothman">@RepGrothman</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/mike_pence">@mike_pence</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump">@realDonaldTrump</a> Quite a diverse crowd you have there </p>— Abby Reger (@AbbyLaneReger) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/799277832463486978">November 17, 2016</a>
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<p><div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
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"Shake up the status quo" by featuring only white people? Yes because white folks have never had positions of power before. <a href="https://twitter.com/cathymcmorris">@cathymcmorris</a> </p>— Tauriq Moosa (@tauriqmoosa) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/799338249382666244">November 17, 2016</a>
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<p>The House GOP Twitter account published a photo of the crowd from a different angle, with a caption boldly stating "UNIFIED."</p>
<p><div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>
UNIFIED. <a href="https://t.co/QqXrIClMtX">pic.twitter.com/QqXrIClMtX</a> </p>— House Republicans (@HouseGOP) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/799280212441702405">November 17, 2016</a>
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<h2>That led to another round of excoriation:</h2>
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🤔<a href="https://twitter.com/HouseGOP">@HouseGOP</a> <a href="https://t.co/1NGWcoyuZd">pic.twitter.com/1NGWcoyuZd</a> </p>— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/799286430321217536">November 17, 2016</a>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/HouseGOP">@HouseGOP</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/mike_pence">@mike_pence</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/SpeakerRyan">@SpeakerRyan</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/GOPLeader">@GOPLeader</a> You guys really need a little more diversity in your party. Not one person of color, really? </p>— Chewy Smith (@Chewcipher) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/799282527689129984">November 17, 2016</a>
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<p><div>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/HouseGOP">@housegop</a> Let me fix the contrast in that photo a little bit <a href="https://t.co/OL5tnSjwny">pic.twitter.com/OL5tnSjwny</a> </p>— Liem Bahneman (@Liembo) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/799298517827059712">November 17, 2016</a>
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<p>According to the <a href="https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43869.pdf">Congressional Research Service</a>, the current Republican House delegation includes two African-Americans, nine Latinos, two American Indians, one Asian, and 23 women. There are 247 Republicans in the House.</p>
<p>The picture drew immediate comparisons to a picture House Speaker Paul Ryan took with GOP interns this summer. Like the representatives in Pence's selfie, the interns in Ryan's photo were <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/paul-ryan-selfie-white-capitol-hill-interns-2016-7">overwhelmingly white</a>.</p>
<p><div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>
Hmmm. <a href="https://t.co/sWtwGI2pwi">pic.twitter.com/sWtwGI2pwi</a> </p>— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/799306520240463872">November 17, 2016</a>
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</div></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/megyn-kelly-muslim-registry-2016-11" >Megyn Kelly shut down a Trump supporter who said Japanese internment camps were precedent for a Muslim registry</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mike-pence-selfie-2016-11#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/highlights-trump-obamas-turbulent-relationship-isis-birth-certificate-2016-11">'He's the founder of ISIS': Watch Trump and Obama trade insults throughout the years</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/trevor-noah-blasts-republicans-trump-steve-bannon-hire-2016-11Trevor Noah slams Republicans who allowed Trump's 'reprehensible' hire: 'Shame on you'http://www.businessinsider.com/trevor-noah-blasts-republicans-trump-steve-bannon-hire-2016-11
Thu, 17 Nov 2016 10:50:01 -0500Jethro Nededog
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/582dcd6ce02ba79f028b4d4b-900/daily%20show%20with%20trevor%20noah%20steve%20bannon%20donald%20trump%20paul%20ryan%20comedy%20central.png" alt="daily show with trevor noah steve bannon donald trump paul ryan comedy central" data-mce-source="&amp;quotThe Daily Show with Trevor Noah&amp;quot/Comedy Central"></p><p>Trevor Noah feels that Republican leaders should be ashamed for allowing President-elect Donald Trump's appointment of controversial conservative Steve Bannon to his White House.</p>
<p>Bannon <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/seth-meyers-steve-bannon-donald-trump-2016-11" target="_blank">has caused a lot of outrage</a> among both Democrats and Republicans. The former chairman of far-right website Breitbart News has been accused of anti-Semitism, misogyny, and helping in the spread of racist white nationalism tied to the "alt-right" movement.</p>
<p>"Right now, people may feel helpless, because clearly Trump is unshameable, and so is Bannon," Noah said on Wednesday's "The Daily Show." "So, no matter how much noise you make about this appointment, there's a good chance they won't give a s---."</p>
<p>"I'll tell you who we shouldn't forget about, these two guys, Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell," Noah continued, "the Republican leaders who never had the spine to stand up to Team Trump."</p>
<p>The show then played a clip of McConnell being asked about Bannon's appointment and simply avoiding the question and creating an awkward moment of silence.</p>
<p><span>"I’m sorry, that's not the response of a moral leader," Noah said. "That's someone's grandpa doing a really s---ty mannequin challenge."</span></p>
<p><span>And as for Speaker of the House Ryan, the show played a clip of him saying he "has no concerns" regarding Bannon's appointment and that he trusts Trump's judgment.</span></p>
<p><span>"Get the f--- out of here, man! You trust Donald Trump's judgment? Since when?" Noah responded before showing numerous clips of Ryan condemning several of Trump's statements and refusing to support his presidential campaign. </span><span>"Shame on you, Paul Ryan."</span></p>
<p><span>Noah then added: "And I guess we know now when it comes to putting his country first, Paul Ryan, well, he don't give a s---."</span></p>
<p><strong>Watch the video below:</strong></p>
<p><span><div>
<iframe src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/embed/mgid:arc:video:comedycentral.com:2896d7dd-3ad5-4897-989e-aa4283f4c201" width="800" height="450" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe>
</div></span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trevor-noah-donald-trump-south-african-president-jacob-zuma-2016-11" >Trevor Noah compares Trump to South Africa's scandalous president</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>DON'T MISS:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/seth-meyers-president-elect-donald-trump-campaign-promises-2016-11" >Seth Meyers: Trump's biggest campaign promise was 'a f---ing lie'</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trevor-noah-blasts-republicans-trump-steve-bannon-hire-2016-11#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/barack-obama-donald-trump-election-president-warns-rise-crude-nationalism-2016-11">Obama: 'We are going to have to guard against a rise in a crude sort of nationalism'</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/mike-pence-trump-congress-connections-2016-11Understanding how Jimmy Carter became president helps explain why Trump needs Mike Pencehttp://www.businessinsider.com/mike-pence-trump-congress-connections-2016-11
Wed, 16 Nov 2016 21:15:00 -0500Justin Buchler
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/582d38e9ba6eb61b008b4cb9-696/screen shot 2016-10-13 at 7.44.44 pm.png" alt="Mike Pence" data-mce-source="Screenshot via WBNS-10TV" data-mce-caption="Mike Pence interviewed on WBNS-10TV in Columbus, Ohio" data-link="http://www.10tv.com/article/one-one-interview-vice-presidential-candidate-mike-pence" /></p><p>What role will Mike Pence play in the White House?</p>
<p>Donald Trump selected Pence as his vice presidential running mate to address his political vulnerabilities within the Republican Party. The Republican establishment was nervous about Trump during the nomination process because they did not trust him to govern conservatively or responsibly.</p>
<p>When Trump chose Pence, much of the political discussion focused on how Pence would reassure nervous conservatives that a Trump administration would not betray conservative principles. Pence&rsquo;s governing experience was equally important. Starting in 2001, he served in the House of Representatives, including as Chair of the House Republican Conference, and was governor of Indiana since 2013. This <a href="https://theconversation.com/mike-pence-is-the-anti-trump-62527">reassured</a> party establishment figures that Trump&rsquo;s path would be more conventional.</p>
<p>Pence&rsquo;s governing background may allow him to serve a vital role for Trump as a liaison to Congress, but only selectively. Unfortunately for Trump, the issues on which he is most at odds with Republican congressional leaders, like trade, are those on which he is also at odds with Pence. This may limit Pence&rsquo;s ability to act on Trump&rsquo;s behalf.</p>
<p>Strangely enough, understanding how Jimmy Carter became president may shed light on Trump and his need for someone like Pence. As a political scientist I study elections, parties and legislatures, and was a student of the late political scientist Nelson W. Polsby. His 1983 book <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Consequences_of_Party_Reform.html?id=O2WHAAAAMAAJ">Consequences of Party Reform</a> may be a useful guide to relations between the executive and legislative branches under a Trump administration.</p>
<h2>Reforms draw in outsiders</h2>
<p>While modern presidential nominations are determined by primaries and caucuses, it was not always that way. Through 1968, party officials selected their nominees at the conventions, regardless of who won the largely symbolic primaries. However, in 1968 the Democratic Convention <a href="http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/conventions/chicago/facts/chicago68/index.shtml">erupted into riots</a> at the nomination of Hubert Humphrey. His opponent, Eugene McCarthy, had won the symbolic, but mostly inconsequential primaries. Democrats responded by adopting the McGovern-Fraser reforms, which required states to select delegates through <a href="http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RL30527.pdf">primaries and caucuses</a>.</p>
<p>The McGovern-Fraser reforms allowed Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter &ndash; an outsider to national party politics &ndash; to win the 1976 nomination and then the presidency. He, like Trump, achieved this by appealing to voters, rather than the party establishment. As president, Carter also faced a nominally unified Democratic Congress. However, as an outsider he entered the presidency with no connections to any congressional Democrats. By Polsby&rsquo;s account, he also never bothered to establish any.</p>
<p><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/582cdc70e02ba734008b4c1a-2400/ap_7701210424.jpg" alt="Jimmy Carter" data-mce-source="AP Photo/Peter Bregg" data-mce-caption="Jimmy Carter." /></p>
<p>Polsby described Carter&rsquo;s view of Congress as dismissive. Carter was unwilling to take advice from Representatives and Senators and, most importantly with respect to Pence, Carter lacked any liaisons who had established relationships with Congress. Consequently, Carter&rsquo;s administration failed to realize many of his policy goals. According to political scientist David Mayhew in &ldquo;<a href="http://yalebooks.com/book/9780300102888/divided-we-govern">Divided We Govern</a>,&rdquo; Carter passed an average of 5.5 pieces of major legislation per year during his term. His predecessor, President Gerald Ford, managed 8.6 pieces during a more tumultuous period. Prior to being elected president, Ford had served as House Minority Leader.</p>
<h2>Trump&rsquo;s conflicts with Congress</h2>
<p>Carter entered the White House lacking any direct, personal relationships with his own party in Congress. Trump enters the office with hostile relationships. He has <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/11/donald-trump-breaks-from-paul-ryan-republican-leaders-and-says-s/">called</a> Speaker Paul Ryan &ldquo;weak and ineffective,&rdquo; and the Speaker has accused Trump of <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/07/politics/paul-ryan-donald-trump-racist-comment/">textbook racism</a>. While they have been <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/paul-ryan-donald-trump-231288">more friendly</a> since election day, personal relationships of the type Polsby found so important do not build so quickly, or so easily.</p>
<p>If Carter&rsquo;s lack of personal relationships with congressional Democrats hobbled his ability to pass his legislative agenda, Trump&rsquo;s hostile relationship with congressional Republicans could be even more challenging.</p>
<p>Unless, that is, Trump delegates the task of legislative negotiation to Pence, who served amicably in Congress and rose to the position of Chair of the House Republican Conference. The challenge is that Pence was not an active legislator who shepherded legislation through the tangled process. Pence never served on the Rules Committee, which would have given him expertise in the process itself. His record championing legislation is <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-07-13/mike-pence-s-record-scrutinized-ahead-of-trump-running-mate-decision">remarkably thin</a>.</p>
<p>Still, a well-respected but unaccomplished legislator would probably serve as a better negotiator than Trump. But that requires Trump to delegate authority to Pence since the vice presidency has no real <a href="http://www.senate.gov/civics/constitution_item/constitution.htm#a2">formal authority</a> beyond casting tie-breaking votes in the Senate. The tasks are those delegated by the president.</p>
<p><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/582cdca5ba6eb619268b4880-2400/ap_887824019141.jpg" alt="paul ryan donald trump mike pence melania trump" data-mce-source="AP Photo/Alex Brandon" data-mce-caption="President-elect Donald Trump, his wife Melania and Vice president-elect Mike Pence, talk as they pose for photographers with House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis. after a meeting in the Speaker's office on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016." data-link="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/2016-Election-Trump/ba0723b444bb49f0b2bb8c1db618b055/9/0" /></p>
<p>The most challenging tasks are those with which Pence can be the least help because he and Trump are at odds on the issues. For example, Trump needs no negotiator to work on his behalf for issues on which the Republican Party is unified, such as tax cuts. In that sense, he is in a stronger position than Carter, whose Congress was filled with Democrats, ranging from Northern liberals to remaining conservative Southerners, who were as likely to join with Republicans as Democrats.</p>
<p>On the other hand, consider trade. While more traditional Republicans &ndash; including Pence &ndash; embrace international trade and oppose policies such as tariffs, Trump is <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2016/09/27/news/economy/donald-trump-nafta-hillary-clinton-debate/">hostile</a> to NAFTA, and <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/donald-trump-trade-tpp-231212">the TPP</a>. He insists on <a href="http://fortune.com/2016/08/25/donald-trump-china-tariffs/">threatening tariffs</a> on other countries if they do not meet his demands on trade policy. Working with Congress on such issues will require a liaison, but Pence may be the <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/15/politics/mike-pence-donald-trump-trade/">wrong person</a> to do it.</p>
<p>Where Pence can be most active are the many issues on which Trump has few clear positions. In that regard, President Trump may resemble President Dwight Eisenhower. Remembered by some scholars as an ineffective president, political scientist Fred Greenstein wrote in &ldquo;<a href="https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/content/hidden-hand-presidency">The Hidden Hand Presidency</a>&rdquo; that Eisenhower was misunderstood, in part, because he actually had a very limited policy agenda.</p>
<p>Similarly, Trump has few policy commitments because he has so few tangible policy beliefs. For example, if he simply wants &ldquo;<a href="http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/249697-trump-replace-obamacare-with-something-terrific">something terrific</a>&rdquo; to replace Obamacare, then his position on healthcare policy is non-specific enough that Pence can act, not as a liaison, but as a virtual executive.</p>
<p>The question remains one of delegation. Will Trump delegate to Pence, and on which issues? Without Pence, Trump may be stuck in perpetual conflict with his own party leadership, undone by the same conflicts that beset Carter.</p>
<p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/justin-buchler-227068">Justin Buchler</a>, Associate Professor of Political Science, <em><a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/case-western-reserve-university-1506">Case Western Reserve University</a></em></span></p>
<p>This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-mike-pence-solve-trumps-outsider-problem-with-congress-68647">original article</a>.</p>
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://theconversation.com/javascripts/lib/content_tracker_hook.js" id="theconversation_tracker_hook" data-counter="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/68647/count?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" async="async"></script><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mike-pence-trump-congress-connections-2016-11#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trailer-martin-scorsese-film-silence-paramount-andrew-garfield-liam-neeson-adam-driver-2016-11">Watch the trailer for the new Martin Scorsese film that took over 20 years to make</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/paul-ryan-unanimously-nominated-for-re-election-as-house-speaker-2016-11House Speaker Paul Ryan unanimously nominated by fellow Republicans for re-electionhttp://www.businessinsider.com/paul-ryan-unanimously-nominated-for-re-election-as-house-speaker-2016-11
Tue, 15 Nov 2016 14:02:31 -0500Susan Cornwell and Susan Heavey
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/57ab9b7dce38f284328b5d83-2400/gettyimages-587857382.jpg" alt="Paul Ryan" data-mce-source="Darren Hauck/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="Paul Ryan." /></p><p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan was unanimously nominated on Tuesday by his fellow Republicans for re-election as speaker in the new Congress next year, the House Republican Conference said on Twitter.</p>
<p>Ryan, who faced no challengers for the post from within Republican ranks, was nominated during a closed-door meeting of all Republican lawmakers in the House. He will face an election in January, when all members of the new House, both Democrats and Republicans, vote on a new speaker.</p>
<p>Republicans kept their majorities in both the House and Senate in the Nov. 8 elections in which voters elected Republican Donald Trump to the White House over Democrat Hillary Clinton.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/paul-ryan-unanimously-nominated-for-re-election-as-house-speaker-2016-11#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-cook-scrambled-eggs-anthony-bourdain-2016-11">The best way to cook scrambled eggs — according to Anthony Bourdain</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/paul-ryan-trump-unified-republican-government-2016-11PAUL RYAN: 'Welcome to the dawn of a new unified Republican government'http://www.businessinsider.com/paul-ryan-trump-unified-republican-government-2016-11
Tue, 15 Nov 2016 11:12:41 -0500Oliver Darcy
<p>House Speaker Paul Ryan on Tuesday said Congress was working in sync with President-elect Donald Trump to ensure Republicans “hit the ground running” when the real-estate mogul is inaugurated as the 45th president in January.</p>
<p>“Welcome to the dawn of a new unified Republican government,” Ryan said at a press conference, following a meeting with the House Republican Conference.</p>
<p>Ryan added: “This will be a government focused on turning President-elect Trump’s victory into real progress for the American people.”</p>
<p><div>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">House Speaker Paul Ryan: “Welcome to the dawn of a new, unified Republican government." <a href="https://t.co/lo3Igp17Wz">https://t.co/lo3Igp17Wz</a> <a href="https://t.co/XiNsMk0SuP">https://t.co/XiNsMk0SuP</a></p>— CNN (@CNN) <a href="https://twitter.com/CNN/status/798554042632802304">November 15, 2016</a>
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<p>The Wisconsin Republican said he was speaking with Trump “virtually every single day.”</p>
<p>Ryan touted his “Better Way” policy agenda and said the House will move quickly to send its various components to the president’s desk.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-trump-ideological-pragmatic-2016-11" >Obama on Trump: 'I don't think he's ideological'</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/paul-ryan-trump-unified-republican-government-2016-11#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-appoint-supreme-court-justice-overturn-roe-v-wade-abortion-60-minutes-states-2016-11">TRUMP: Women who want abortions may have to 'go to another state'</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-speaker-ryan-tells-gop-colleagues-we-must-deliver-2016-11'We need to seize this moment': Paul Ryan is urging Republicans to 'join forces' with Trumphttp://www.businessinsider.com/ap-speaker-ryan-tells-gop-colleagues-we-must-deliver-2016-11
Mon, 14 Nov 2016 10:08:00 -0500
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/57ab9b7dce38f284328b5d83-2400/gettyimages-587857382.jpg" alt="Paul Ryan" data-mce-source="Darren Hauck/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="Paul Ryan." /></p><p>WASHINGTON (AP) &mdash; House Speaker Paul Ryan is telling GOP lawmakers that it's time to "join forces with the new Trump administration."</p>
<p>In a letter to colleagues Ryan adds: "We need to seize this moment, and come together like never before."</p>
<p>The Wisconsin Republicans makes tells House Republicans he is seeking their support in his re-election for speaker.</p>
<p>He circulated the letter on Monday as Congress reconvened for a lame-duck session following Donald Trump's election as president.</p>
<p>House Republicans will hold closed-door leadership elections on Tuesday and Ryan is expected to be re-elected as speaker &mdash; despite mumblings of discontent from a few conservative lawmakers. He has served in the job for a year.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-speaker-ryan-tells-gop-colleagues-we-must-deliver-2016-11#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/the-small-group-of-people-who-will-be-able-to-rein-in-president-elect-trump-2016-11The number of people who will be able to rein in President-elect Trump is vanishingly smallhttp://www.businessinsider.com/the-small-group-of-people-who-will-be-able-to-rein-in-president-elect-trump-2016-11
Sun, 13 Nov 2016 16:59:00 -0500Reihan Salam
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<p><span><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/58260437691e8828018b641a-2400/ap_887824019141.jpg" alt="paul ryan donald trump mike pence melania trump" data-mce-source="AP Photo/Alex Brandon" data-mce-caption="President-elect Donald Trump, his wife Melania and Vice president-elect Mike Pence, talk as they pose for photographers with House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis. after a meeting in the Speaker's office on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016." data-link="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/2016-Election-Trump/ba0723b444bb49f0b2bb8c1db618b055/9/0" />O</span>nce Donald Trump takes office, he will be the most widely loathed president in modern American history. Yet he will also have far more room to maneuver than any of his recent predecessors. That&rsquo;s precisely what&rsquo;s freaking so many people out. There is no way to predict what Trump will do or say in the months to come, and that&rsquo;s left many Americans anxious and afraid.</p>
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<p>Normally, you&rsquo;d expect a successful presidential candidate to be at least somewhat attuned to the interests of his political allies, including his donors. Mitt Romney likely would have run a very different campaign in 2012 had he not depended on the support of wealthy donors. Trump faced no such constraint. His early success was driven largely by the saturation media coverage he generated with his bombastic rhetoric.</p>
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<p>This difference shows in Trump&rsquo;s fundraising totals. Through mid-October, his campaign committee spent&nbsp;<a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/09/trump-spent-about-half-of-what-clinton-did-on-his-way-to-the-presidency.html" target="_blank">roughly half</a>&nbsp;as much as Hillary Clinton&rsquo;s. And while Romney attracted hundreds of millions of dollars in support from Super PACs, Trump&rsquo;s Super PAC allies raised&nbsp;<a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/graphics/2016-presidential-campaign-fundraising/" target="_blank">a far smaller sum</a>. Several large donors who had enthusiastically backed Republicans in previous elections and who supported Trump&rsquo;s rivals in the race for the GOP presidential nomination,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/08/09/us/elections/Bush-Rubio-and-Kasich-Donors-give-to-Clinton.html" target="_blank">favored Clinton over Trump</a>. This was particularly true of donors who had contributed to Jeb Bush, John Kasich, and Marco Rubio, three candidates perceived, fairly or otherwise, as especially deferential to the interests of the financial services sector.</p>
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<p>If Trump won&rsquo;t be tied down by large donors, might he instead by hemmed in by the Republican Party? Probably not.</p>
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<p>Unlike the centralized, disciplined political parties found in many other democracies, America&rsquo;s major parties are loose coalitions. Campaign finance regulation has hollowed out central party organizations, and power has shifted to individual candidates, their fundraising networks, and a congeries of Super PACs and pressure groups. The party that controls the presidency has the distinct advantage of having a very visible figure who is unambiguously at the top of the partisan totem pole. Without such a focal point, these loose coalitions have a way of descending into anarchy. That&rsquo;s basically what&rsquo;s happened to the GOP in the Obama years.</p>
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<p>But now the GOP has a focal point, and it&rsquo;s not Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, or Paul Ryan, the speaker of the House (for now, at least). It is Donald Trump. Instead of Republicans reining in Trump, it is Trump who will play the central role in defining what it means to be a Republican.</p>
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<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5824f17e5124c920563d0633-800/bannon-priebus-top-candidates-for-white-house-chief-of-staff-ny-times.jpg" alt="U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Chairman of the Republican National Committee Reince Priebus address supporters during his election night rally in Manhattan, New York, U.S., November 9, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar" data-mce-source="Thomson Reuters" data-mce-caption="Donald Trump and Reince Priebus address supporters during his election night rally in Manhattan" />Until recently, ambitious young Republicans knew exactly what they had to do to make their way in the GOP: Invoke the memory of Ronald Reagan at every turn, even if you were but a small child when Reagan was in the White House, and make sure everyone in the party knew you were a conservative&rsquo;s conservative devoted to conservative conservatism. Witness the careers of Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, two 40-somethings who hold different perspectives on policy issues and who have entirely different styles. And yet both men endeavored to convince their fellow Republicans, and particularly Republican donors, that they were Reagan&rsquo;s Latino heirs. Trump&rsquo;s victory has almost certainly brought the era of Reagan worship to an end.</p>
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<p>If donors won&rsquo;t guide the president-elect, and the party apparatus won&rsquo;t constrain him, then who will steer the president-elect? Heavy responsibility will fall on the shoulders of Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner, Trump&rsquo;s closest confidantes, and the as yet unknown people who will staff senior roles in his administration.</p>
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<p>Trump has been consistent on one point over the course of his decadeslong flirtation with national politics: his skepticism about free trade and his commitment to economic nationalism. On almost everything else, from the tax code to universal health insurance to the size of the military to unauthorized immigration&mdash;his signature issue this campaign cycle&mdash;he&rsquo;s taken any number of positions. On most of these questions, with the notable exception of immigration, Trump is a blank slate. Indeed, one of his recurring themes has been that, unlike the Republicans he trounced in the primaries, he is no ideologue. He&rsquo;s promised to do &ldquo;whatever works&rdquo; to make America great again.</p>
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<p>Who will serve in a Trump administration? We can expect that Trump&rsquo;s most enthusiastic surrogates&mdash;former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani&mdash;will be given&nbsp;<a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/who-is-in-president-trump-cabinet-231071" target="_blank">prominent roles</a>. Trump&rsquo;s most devoted cheerleaders have been has-beens (like Gingrich and Giuliani) and never-weres who were unafraid of the reputational consequences of backing Trump either because they were so devoted to his cause or, in some cases, because they felt they had everything to gain and nothing to lose.</p>
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<p>If loyalty is Trump&rsquo;s chief criterion for hiring, he&rsquo;ll run into a serious problem. There are countless roles that will need be filled at the Trump White House and in executive branch agencies, most of which offer sleepless nights and hardly any glory. Because his campaign was so small and because it alienated so many elite Republicans, it will be difficult for President Trump to limit himself to loyalists. He will have to reach out to at least some of the men and women who opposed him.</p>
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<p>One of the biggest challenges facing Republicans in the post-Reagan era is that as the party has grown more stridently anti-elitist, it has hemorrhaged college-educated professionals. Though the GOP has compensated for this loss in electoral terms, it&rsquo;s contributed to an asymmetry in the realm of policy expertise. Whereas Hillary Clinton&rsquo;s presidential campaign had vast numbers of credentialed policy experts at its beck and call, the Trump campaign had a small, tight-knit coterie of contrarians, who zagged when other Republicans of their social class zigged. That&rsquo;s not a terrible thing when you&rsquo;re waging war on the conventional wisdom. But it makes life far more difficult when you need warm bodies to fill staff positions. Most people are conformists, not renegades. And in intellectual circles, including in&nbsp;<em>conservative</em>&nbsp;intellectual circles, full-throated support for Trump has been a minority position.</p>
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<p>In the weeks and months to come, many policy professionals will face a dilemma. Are they willing to put aside their doubts about Trump to serve in his administration? Doing so will mean taking on a not-inconsiderable risk. Trump was the most polarizing presidential candidate in recent memory. It is easy to imagine that he will be just as polarizing a president. He is untested as a public servant, and it&rsquo;s not at all clear that he has the discipline or the experience necessary to serve as the nation&rsquo;s chief executive.</p>
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<p>That is precisely why it is so important that those asked to serve in the Trump administration give very serious consideration to doing so, regardless of their political proclivities. This is particularly true of those with national security expertise, but it is not limited to them. America is entering a very uncertain moment, and our new president will need calm voices and steady hands around him.</p>
</div><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-foundation-philanthropy-washington-post-2016-10" >5 examples of how Donald Trump's philanthropy often helped one person — himself</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-small-group-of-people-who-will-be-able-to-rein-in-president-elect-trump-2016-11#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/income-state-top-one-percent-salary-map-2016-11">Here's how much you need to make to be in the top 1% of every state</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/jake-tapper-paul-ryan-free-birth-control-2016-11Jake Tapper grills Paul Ryan over whether his Obamacare replacement will still provide free birth controlhttp://www.businessinsider.com/jake-tapper-paul-ryan-free-birth-control-2016-11
Sun, 13 Nov 2016 11:09:20 -0500Maxwell Tani
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/58288835691e881b008b672d-1071/screen shot 2016-11-13 at 10.29.01 am.png" alt="paul ryan" data-mce-source="CNN" data-mce-caption="House Speaker Paul Ryan on CNN." /></p><p>CNN anchor Jake Tapper grilled House Speaker Paul Ryan on Sunday over whether his Obamacare replacement plan would still provide free birth control to insured women.</p>
<p>In an interview on "State of the Union," Tapper asked the speaker and self-styled policy wonk whether his future Obamacare replacement plan would still allow insured women to receive birth control with no additional cost.</p>
<p>"Look I'm not going to get into all the nitty-gritty detail of these things,"&nbsp;Ryan replied.</p>
<p>Tapper continued to&nbsp;drill down on the question.</p>
<p>"With all due respect, I don&rsquo;t know that the average woman of childbearing years out there who relies upon contraception provided by health insurance mandated by the Affordable Care Act I don&rsquo;t know that she would think that that&rsquo;s just a nitty-gritty detail," Tapper said.</p>
<p>Ryan argued that Tapper was asking him "details about legislation that hasn&rsquo;t been written yet."</p>
<p>"Right but is it important to you. Would that be a principle of whatever replaces it?" Tapper replied.</p>
<p>Ryan interjected: "I&rsquo;m not going to get into hypotheticals about legislation that hasn&rsquo;t even been drafted yet."</p>
<p>President-elect Donald Trump's upset victory in Tuesday's election has inspired a flurry of questions over the future of the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama's signature legislative achievement.</p>
<p>While Trump promised last week that he would consider keeping popular parts of the law, Ryan's 37-page&nbsp;healthcare overhaul outline <a href="http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-pol-trump-obamacare-20161110-story.html">essentially dismantles</a> the law by&nbsp;eliminating federal rules for who qualifies for Medicaid, delegating the decision to states, and creating vouchers for Americans who don't have health insurance and don't qualify for Medicare or Medicaid.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-win-democratic-party-2016-11" >Trump's win has shattered the Democratic Party</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jake-tapper-paul-ryan-free-birth-control-2016-11#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/inside-donald-trump-victory-party-presidential-election-2016-11">What it was really like to be inside Trump's victory party</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-ryan-says-trump-agrees-no-place-for-racism-hate-crimes-2016-11Ryan: Trump agrees 'no place' for racism, hate crimes after heated electionhttp://www.businessinsider.com/ap-ryan-says-trump-agrees-no-place-for-racism-hate-crimes-2016-11
Sun, 13 Nov 2016 10:23:00 -0500Associated Press
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5826019046e27a6a5a8b5652-2400/ap_261493867251.jpg" alt="donald trump paul ryan" data-mce-source="AP Photo/Alex Brandon" data-mce-caption="President-elect Donald Trump is seen with House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis. on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016." data-link="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/2016-Election-Trump/88bcc4ab960842a6ba22b98bfb72d364/8/0" /></p><p>House Speaker Paul Ryan says the people generating racist graffiti in the wake of Donald Trump's election are "not Republicans" and "we don't want them in our party."</p>
<p>The Wisconsin congressman told CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday that, "People should really just put their minds at ease. We are pluralistic, we are inclusive... that's the kind of country we are still going to have."</p>
<p>He says he's "confident Donald Trump feels the same way."</p>
<p>Ryan was asked about reports or racist graffiti and hate crimes after Tuesday's presidential election.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-new-york-times-tweets-2016-11" >Trump fires off blistering pair of tweets at New York Times for its coverage of the 'Trump phenomena'</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-ryan-says-trump-agrees-no-place-for-racism-hate-crimes-2016-11#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-spot-massive-hole-sun-coronal-hole-video-2016-12">NASA just spotted a massive hole growing on the sun — here’s what it means</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/paul-ryan-breitbart-bannon-2016-11Paul Ryan says he has 'no concerns' about Breitbart chairman being considered for Trump's chief of staffhttp://www.businessinsider.com/paul-ryan-breitbart-bannon-2016-11
Sun, 13 Nov 2016 09:55:23 -0500Oliver Darcy
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/57d18ca809d2935f0f8b6a96-2400/gettyimages-599856224.jpg" alt="Paul Ryan" data-mce-source="Win McNamee/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="Paul Ryan." /></p><p>House Speaker Paul Ryan said Sunday that he was&nbsp;not worried about Stephen Bannon, the executive chairman of Breitbart, an alt-right news website, being appointed as President-elect Donald Trump&rsquo;s chief of staff.</p>
<p>&ldquo;No, I&rsquo;ve never met the guy,&rdquo; Ryan told CNN host Jake Tapper.</p>
<p>Ryan continued: &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know Steve Bannon. I have no concerns. I trust Donald&rsquo;s judgement and I think he&rsquo;s going to pick who he thinks will best serve him.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Bannon and&nbsp;<span>Reince Priebus, the chair of the Republican National Committee, were both being considered for the role.</span></p>
<p>As executive chairman of Breitbart, Bannon directed the website to fiercely attack Ryan. Breitbart has characterized the Wisconsin Republican as a spineless leader who betrayed conservative principles when he assumed his leadership position.</p>
<p>Moreover, emails <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/300445-exclusive-trump-campaign-ceo-wanted-to-destroy-ryan" target="_blank">obtained by The Hill</a> revealed Bannon&rsquo;s end goal was to remove Ryan as speaker.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, Ryan said on Sunday he was &ldquo;sure&rdquo; he would be able to &ldquo;work well with whoever&rdquo; Trump selects as his chief of staff.</p>
<p>Kellyanne Conway, Trump's campaign manager, said on Saturday the decision on Trump's chief of staff was "imminent."</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-win-democratic-party-2016-11" >Trump's win has shattered the Democratic Party</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/paul-ryan-breitbart-bannon-2016-11#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/inside-donald-trump-victory-party-presidential-election-2016-11">What it was really like to be inside Trump's victory party</a></p>